Amphisbaenia, GRAY, 1844
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.2478/if-2019-0022 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B387BB-DF60-FFA1-FC7C-F83B0A34FE72 |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Amphisbaenia |
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Amphisbaenia indet.
Text-fig. 6a View Text-fig
M a t e r i a l. One vertebra, EUNHM PV-13238,
Nasrettinhoca 1, early Pliocene, MN 14.
d1 d2 d3 d4 d5
D e s c r i p t i o n. The presacral vertebra is small (centrum length about 1.5 mm) with a centrum that is almost compressed dorsoventrally. The lateral margins of the centrum are almost parallel and divergent anteriorly. The ventral surface of the centrum bears two distinct subcentral foramina. The cotyles and condyles are oval in shape. The neural canal is semicircle in anterior and posterior views and its height is slightly lower than the height of the cotyle. The neural arch is almost smooth dorsally without a neural crest. The arch has a sinusoid shape in lateral aspect, gradually rising towards the posterior end. The anterior edge of the neural arch is deeply convex. The pre- and postzygapophyses are missing (except for a small fragment of the left prezygapophysis).
R e m a r k s. The vertebra is too fragmentary to provide any details of their morphology (i.e. morphology of prezygapophyses and synapophyses). The visible features of the specimen generally correspond to those of Anguidae (and Anguis ) based on a dorsoventrally compressed centrum and lateral margin of the centrum, which are almost parallel in ventral view ( Klembara 1982, Čerňanský et al. 2019). However, Anguidae are characterized by the vertebrae having a clear neural spine and generally a larger size. The specimen from Nasrettinhoca 1 lacks a neural spine, its arch has a sinusoidal shape in lateral view, with a convex anterior edge in dorsal view, which support referral to an amphisbaenian ( Estes 1983). Amphisbaenia is widely distributed in modern day Turkey where the Blanus strauchi species complex is known ( Sindaco et al. 2014). Though the record from Nasrettinhoca 1 probably belongs to Blanus (and to Blanus strauchi species complex), the poor preservation of the material prevents precise identification.
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